1. Chronicle- $22M
Even if we never see another "found footage" flick this year (we will with Todd Phillps' party flick, Project X), it's already been a banner year for the irritating sub-genre. While it didn't bank as much as The Devil Inside's $33M opening, Project X probably had a tougher hill to climb, trying to push a shaky cam superhero film with no recognizable stars, no costumes, and a lack of special effects sizzle. With a production budget hovering around the $12M mark, and Chronicle's generally good word of mouth, this one may be around for awhile and is clearly one of the year's better success stories thus far. If Joshua Trank gets the Fantastic Four relaunch as many expect, what're the chances he goes back to the found footage well one more time? Might not be such a bad idea.
2. The Woman in Black- $21M
Oh well, I guess we can't rag on CBS Films and their track record for mediocrity anymore, can we? The fledgling studio finally scored their biggest hit with the dark goth horror, smartly centering the marketing campaign around the notoriety and presumed sex appeal of Daniel Radcliffe. Yeah, some women out there find Harry Potter hot, and wonder exactly how magic his wand is. If Radcliffe can hold on to what is clearly a large core fanbase, he may more of a player in this new career phase than I certainly would have thought.
3. The Grey- $9.5M/$34.7M
Following the usual early season Liam Neeson trend, The Grey lost a little more than half it's audience but will still manage to be another solid hit for the old man. He's not going anywhere.
4. Big Miracle- $8.48M
The only miracle would be if this barely marketed whale rescue flick can pull a Dolphin Tale and rebound after a lackluster opening weekend. Opening at just over 2,000 theaters, expectations had to have been pretty low, but there aren't a lot of family oriented films out right now so(strange for this time of year) it's possible it may hang on for awhile and surprise some folks.
5. Underworld: Awakening- $5.6M/$54.4M
6. One for the Money- $5.25M/$19.7M
7. Red Tails- $5M/$41.3M
If only he had found a way to work in Lando Calrissian....
8. The Descendants- $4.6M/$65.5M
9. Man On A Ledge- $4.46M/$14.7M
10. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close- $3.92M/$26.8M
So many depressed people....
